Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 4:08 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 4:08 p.m.

Cristen Pettigrew, 4, admires a turkey puppet that she made Wednesday at Mary Myers Children Center.

Donnie Roberts/The Dispatch

Smart Start of Davidson County will be able to enroll 60 4-year-olds who will start by December or January through a $20 million statewide pledge from Gov. Bev Perdue. The allotment that is being transferred from other state Department of Health and Human Services programs will create more than 4,000 slots for children in the N.C. Pre-K classrooms all over the state.

"There are good things happening," said Erin Beck, community outreach coordinator for Smart Start. "We still have a lot of kids in Davidson County that are in a lot of need. We still have children on the waiting list. Spending money on the front end is going to help more than spending it on the back end."

Smart Start, which is the state's implementation of a national program, offers information, support and encouragement to parents with children to promote healthy growth and development. Due to state budget cuts this year, families were turned away from the program formerly known as More at Four.

Now that the state is into its fiscal year, state leaders were able to identify areas that are trending toward not requiring all of the funding the General Assembly budgeted.

North Carolina Department of Public Health Secretary Al Delia said in a news release there has been an overwhelming response from the counties that have children on waiting lists.

"Collectively counties all seem to understand that time is ticking away for these children," Delia said. "Once the school year is over they will enter kindergarten, and we will have missed our opportunity to better prepare these kids for school."

In the summer of 2011, Smart Start received major cuts including personnel positions being eliminated and the number of people served through programs being reduced. Also eliminated was the Stars Program, which was designed as an incentive to employees working in early education day care programs to go back to school and seek a degree. Another major loss was the salary supplements for childcare workers that the organization provided to make up for low pay.

The biggest hit was the reduction of slots in child-care programs that created a long waiting list. In February of this year, Perdue announced that 2,000 additional slots were created across the state after her administration was able to identify $9.3 million for the program.

There are 333 youths in the N.C. Pre-K program in Davidson County. Beck noted they still have more than 100 on the waiting list.

She said the program is important because it helps with development, but it also provides socializing that 4-year-olds need before entering school to help them transition.

"Our mission is for each child to show up to kindergarten ready," Beck said.

The agency provides 230 scholarships to parents. It also assists the Department of Social Services that provides vouchers for families. Officials put those children on temporary scholarships so close to 40 slots would not be terminated.

Lauren Groce, child care scholarship program manager for Smart Start, said this past September they pulled names from the waiting list to put in the scholarship program. In the past, most renewals from people in the program are done during the summer. In September, 30 families benefitted from that pool.

The agency operates off of grants, fundraisers and private donations. Smart Start is in the middle of its "Coins for Kids" fundraiser that will end Dec. 6 and goes toward programs at the agency. Buckets for change have been placed in various locations around town to collect money.

"We feel very good about what we're doing. Children are in high-quality childcare programs," said Bill Pless, executive director of Smart Start.

Deneesha Edwards can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 213, or at deneesha.edwards@the-dispatch.com.

Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.